<p>Ok here's my story, when I joined this site I was almost deadset on my decision to go to FSU OR UF. The reason why I wanted to go to either of them was basically because I could go there for free, very good athletics, and a healthy greek life. But now after being on this site for almost two months I have to admit that I've had a change of mind and the LAC;S are looking more attractive generally because there open curriculum(sp?).</p>
<p>so I really don't know what I want right, I like the open mindedness of liberal colleges, but I dislike there small size, I like there open curriculum but dislike there lack of greek life, I like how they handle admissions but dislike there lack of sports I like the percentage of female to males but dislike there cost.
So as you can see there are many pro's but I'm also seeing alot of cons.
so right now my list is as follows
State U'S
FSU
UF
UCF
LSU
UW-M
UCSD
UIUC</p>
<p>lACS
Hampshire
skidmore
sarah lawrence
bennington
oberlin
bates
hamilton
beliot
smith
wesleyan
uroch</p>
<p>So they point of my thread isn't really for anyone to tell me where to go but what Should i do, should i apply to mostly state u's or mostly Lac's, by the way I'm still indecisive about what i want to major in.</p>
<p>You should look at San Diego State. Huge greek life, nice weather, great party scene. The female to male ratio here is great. It has strong business/comm programs. You don't declare until you are a junior.</p>
<p>I've actually been looking at Sdsu I like the party scene and the business program but I've also heard most people get accepted from community college and its a large commuter school.</p>
<p>I'd go for mostly state schools. I think you might find the small size of LACs constricting.</p>
<p>FSU is a really great school. Great sports, a diverse population, and a nice location. I'm sure you can find open mindedness in a schoo like that.</p>
<p>LACs Colgate, Bucknell and Davidson have pretty good sports and thriving Greek life, although don't possess the extreme liberal bent that Wesleyan, Vassar, Oberlin would have.</p>
<p>To say that you're confused is an understatement. Almost everything you're saying about college indicates that you have no intention of actually learning anything unless you have to. You want a party school (big time sport, fraternities, large size). Oh, you can find partiers at LACs and even find LACs where the administration is happy to look the other way when student groups bring alcohol into student events. By and large, though, you are going to find that people notice at LACs when you don't attend class, and your professors will insist that you know the difference between "there" and "their." That doesn't sound like your kind of place.</p>
<p>By all means, go to a big Florida school. It's free, which means you can spend all that money you were going to spend on tuition on alcohol and drugs, instead. In addition, you can get a good education at UF or FSU, but it's neither required nor expected. You can easily breeze through either place taking a course of study that will demand little of you and graduate having learned next to nothing. But you will have a degree, and that's the point for you, isn't it?</p>
<p>Most LACs are for people who actually want to learn. I don't think you'd be comfortable there.</p>
<p>I don't wanna learn? Dude thats pretty disrespectful in my opinion, you don't really know me inorder to have a preconcieved notion that I automatically don't want to learn, the reason why I like an open curriculum is because I strongly dislike math, the reason why I'm looking for a school with good athletics is because I'm a very big sports fans but overall education is the most important thing in my book, if you notice the schools I listed none of them are the "slack" schools most of them are strong academic schools/ so in my opinion don't formulate so thesis based on little information.</p>
<p>Since your a sports fan, you can't go wrong staying in the southeast and attending one of the schools in the SEC. They have the blend of academics, sports, and social life that you seem to be looking for.</p>
<p>There are general education requirements, but nothing to over the top or that isn't managable. For example, I strongly dislike math and since my major has nothing to do with either MATH or SCIENCE, my advisor told me to take the easiest courses in those areas to satisfy gen ed requirements. And yes, I am going to one of the SEC schools. Some people might say that there education is a joke, but within the part of the country they are located, they are very respectable.</p>
<p>Was I too harsh? Maybe, but I doubt it. All the big schools you listed are heavy party schools. There are some large schools that actually require a fair amount of hard work, but they are not listed. On the other hand, it is difficult to breeze through many of the LACs you listed, but not all.</p>
<p>I have no idea why you would want to attend a LAC. I really don't. I'm sure that, in some circles, learning the tomahawk chop is every bit as important as learning, say, statistics, but you won't find those circles extending into most of the LACs you've listed.</p>
<p>If you want to go to a school with few core requirements, any of the large schools you listed will do (there are ways in all of them to take very easy classes to satisfy those requirements). Some LACs have few or no requirments whatsoever (Vassar comes to mind).</p>
<p>Of the LACs you chose, Skidmore and Bennington have the lightest reputations for academic rigor. Sarah Lawrence will require a lot of papers. University of Rochester and Beloit are not really LACs, in my book. Bates, Smith, and Wesleyan are not likely to attact too many students who think Div. 1 sports are relevant to education.</p>
<p>Tarhunt, that was the most ignorant post I believe I've ever seen about state schools on this message board.</p>
<p>Just where in the **** do you get off making comments like that?</p>
<p>I went to a state school, loved the sports, was an extremely involved member in a fraternity, and when I graduated I went to medical school (#11 in USNWR rankings). Just because you have this very misaligned impression that partying and learning are mutually exclusive does not make it so. Just because someone wants more of a social life than any LAC can provide does not mean that they don't want to learn. I suggest you get off your high horse, take a look around, and realize that most success in the real world is not in what you know, but in how well you interact with people. It has even less to do with where you went to college.</p>
<p>To the original poster, I applaud that you are looking at all the aspects of college life, as the social scene is an important one. I don't know about greek life at Duke, but it does have D1 sports. So do MiamiFL, Baylor, USC (above average Greek life from what I hear), Vandy, UVa, and Syracuse - just to name a couple of schools that seem to show up a lot here on CC.</p>
<p>
[quote]
so I really don't know what I want right, I like the open mindedness of liberal colleges, but I dislike there small size, I like there open curriculum but dislike there lack of greek life, I like how they handle admissions but dislike there lack of sports I like the percentage of female to males but dislike there cost.
[/quote]
I think you have a lot of stereotypes! :) Not all LACs are open-minded (nor liberal), and most public universities are very open to different ideas. Some LACs have curriculum requirements (Reed), and some have few or none at all (Amherst). Some LACs have no Greek scene at all (Bard), and some have a very heavy Greek scene (Washington & Lee, Davidson). Some LACs get into sports (Davidson, Colgate) and some don't. It is true that most LACs are holistic in admissions, expensive, and have a high percentage of females, though. </p>
<p>I suggest you apply to a good mixture of both. There are some good LACs in Florida (Eckerd, Rollins), so you don't have to go far. Spend an overnight visit at universities and LACs; one will probably suit you better. You don't have to decide now- apply to both kinds (with a good mix of selectivity as well).</p>
<p>I think that it sounds like you would wind up fairly unhappy at some of the more "liberal" liberal arts schools, like Wesleyan, Bard, Oberlin, Hampshire, Sarah Lawrence.</p>
<p>Look into some of the more conservative ones with a bigger emphasis on sports and the Greek scene, such as Wash & Lee, Davidson, and Colgate, as warblersrule86 mentioned.</p>